On plenty, poverty, and infamy

Here’s my last word on the disaster. Only Piracy and Steeling after this one, I promise.

What I saw last week was waste. It was perhaps the most wasteful spectacle I’ve experienced in my life. Katrina was going to cause suffering. Katrina was going to damage the Gulf Coast, no matter how prepared Americans were for the hurricane. But Katrina did not do so much damage, and she did not cause so much suffering, without a good deal of assistance.

The waste of lives, first and foremost, warrants enough mourning to change your life. And the waste of happiness, the waste of peace, the waste of prosperity warrants just as much serious reflection. The people of New Orleans, better than the people of any other American city, understand that it is not leisure that is not used. New Orleans had plenty of problems and plenty of suffering, but its people also demonstrated a gracious living and an unusal appreciation of the basic elements of life. It is outrageous that the survivors of the flood suffered as much as they did. And it is outrageous that they will be robbed of their way of life for months and months, if not years and years.

New Orleans also demonstrated an easy hospitality to even the most inconsiderate of tourists. All told, my trips to New Orleans, strung together, would not add up to more than a month. But New Orleans taught me, for lack of a better way to express it, how to parade. New Orleans taught me how to eat and how to drink. The people of New Orleans have immeasurably added to my happiness. And you've heard that before, I'm sure. I think it's fair to say, we need New Orleans. That place has to be there. It is critical to the balance in the way of life that has made America so prosperous. So we will miss the example of the city for as long as it’s gone. And it’s a terrible thing to live without.

But we northerners are hard-headed, pragmatic, and materialistic. We are insufficiently moved by some loss of joy. Yet for this, the disaster should shock us further. Even by the coldest of standards, the waste of resources is stunning, and it comes at a time when the nation can least afford it.

First, we knew this disaster was coming. As I watched the city fill with water, I remembered Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard: A little neglect may breed great mischief. Or, for want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, and for want of a horse the rider was lost. There’s more to that old proverb; in some versions, the loss of the rider causes the loss of a battle, a war, and a nation.

Americans enjoy unprecedented prosperity. If we like the way we live, and if we want to preserve that way of life, then we have to elect politicians who will invest our gains wisely. As Poor Richard says, Get what you can, and what you get hold.

Before the disaster, scientists warned that it would take about a billion dollars to build the proper levees. After the disaster, one economist estimated that the storm destroyed 100 billion dollars of American wealth. A billion in time, Poor Richard might say, saves ninety-nine. If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting.

The nation is worse than broke. We were far into debt before the hurricane landed, and we will only be so much more in debt as we rebuild some fraction of the lost personal property and public infrastructure. Remember: When you run in debt, you give to another power over your liberty. It’s not unreasonable to regard the national debt as a grave danger to American liberty.

Perhaps because we have no surplus, no “rainy day fund,” the consequences of this great and sudden expense are compounded. Avoiding the blame for this mind-numbing waste of life and savings brought out the very worst in both our elected leaders and our more partisan neighbors. Truly, as Poor Richard says, The second vice is lying, the first is running in debt.

Mainly they lied about the “great job” and “hard work” that went into the planning and orchestration of the relief effort. Great Talkers, little Doers. They fell to blaming one another when the public responded with skepticism. To some extent, this I can understand. Politicians will be politicians. 'Tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright. But then so many private citizens abandoned their duty to the commonweal and gave themselves over to shameless partisan bickering. As if you could spin such disaster! Ignorance leads Men into a Party, and Shame keeps them from getting out again. It is stunning to hear private citizens interpret what happened as no great fault of every elected official involved.

History shows that such folly will be punished. Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy. We are not so rich that our prosperity cannot be destroyed through prideful incompetence.

We must hold these people accountable, if only to teach a hard lesson to the younger generation of politicians who will soon replace them. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. And, since they scarce will learn in that, we must make the lesson abundantly clear. We just witnessed an utterly incompetent orchestration of resources, and we have to hold these incompetents responsible for the consequent additional and needless destruction of life, liberty, and happiness.

I have nothing else to say about it. To those who read this far, thank you for your time.

Tomorrow I will be back with some thoughts about the AFC East and the AFC South.

Getting ready for some football

After ignoring the delusion-inspiring NFL preseason, I'm booking up on the look of the NFL for 2005.

I saw a widespread changing of the guard and changing of the game in the major leagues this year. I wonder if we'll see the same in the NFL.

Enjoy your Labor Day. Here's hoping you are not at work this morning.

Game on

Life goes on. Today at 1:30 it's Kip Wells facing Jerome Williams and the Cubs. I've got some cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (5.6% alcohol) for later. Mack is 3-for-3 with 2 jacks vs. Jerome lifetime. Bucs are only one game behind the Rockies for Worst NL Record.

In other Bucs news, Fogg is out of the rotation. He's taking it like a man: "The young guys they have coming up have been doing really well. More power to those guys." Mac on Fogg; "He's throwing strikes," McClendon said. "But they're the kind of strikes that don't come back."

The Bucs have collected over $27,000 for Hurricane relief in the past two days outside PNC Park. You can also donate on Federal and General Robinson streets. Or on the Red Cross link to the top left. Please give what you can.

Ball Catch Lose

Sat on the porch today and played catch with Rowdietta, my 3-yo daughter. I taught her to throw overhand. She can bring the heat.

I asked her if she was going to play baseball when she grows up. "No," she said,"I'm going to play Ball Catch Lose." Then she laughed a good three-year-old cackle.

I started to ask, "What is that?" But I stopped because I realized I knew the answer.

Later, I sat in a bar in my Pirates jersey with a pint of Bass. I actually barked at the bartender, some ditzy person, for serving a pint with two inches of head. She topped it off. I watched some college football but couldn't focus much on it. The football, like the beer, went down well and hit the spot. I always drink Bass when I really Need One. It has a high alcohol content. I spent the rest of the day drinking some beer from St. Mary's, PA. It was "honestly refreshing" as advertised, but I honestly can't remember the name of it. I want to say Stoudt but I know that wasn't it.

It looks the situation in New Orleans will stabilize on the death front, but I'm still sure we'll be living with bad economic consequences for years and years.

Do you know what caused the Great Depression? Callous indifference.

Open thread

If you have any notes you'd like to make or leave, here's a place for them.

Incompetence

Look at the news today. The last time I saw one event dominating the Yahoo! news page, wall to wall, top to bottom, left to right, was 9/11. There is no evidence to suggest this story will abate any time soon, either. If anyone thinks life in America will get back to normal tomorrow, or Monday, or a week from now, I guess they are kidding themselves.

I doubt I'll have anything to say about football or baseball for awhile. It's not like this is my job, or like I have a boss, or like I can't do whatever the hell I want to do (or not do) with this blog.

The disaster has shown that our government, at all levels, is seriously, seriously, seriously incompetent. I don't mean that as any kind of partisan political statement. In fact, I have nothing but unbridled contempt for political partisans. If I'm going to mindlessly root for one side or another, I'll root for a baseball team. If I'm going to throw myself into competition and willfully abandon reason, I'd do it for a trivial matter. Politics and government is far too important to debate like it's Michigan vs. Ohio State or Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh.

Our government failed, catastrophically, at every level, from the Mayor to the President.

The incompetence. The waste. The callous neglect. Of human life, of our national heritage, of natural resources.

I'm speechless. I have nothing else to say right now.

Still pissed

How about you?

Here's what the Mayor says. He's a little bit to blame, I think, him and every other elected official in the city, for not making hurricane preparation a required study for every public school, for every grade, in every year. But he's far more sinned against than sinning. And now is not the time to point the finger at this guy.

And the Mayor's right about this: Keep talking about it. That's the best thing you can do. Keep talking about it.

This response to Katrina disgusts me

I have a hard time with the internet this week. I'm only drawn to news that infuriates me. I am stunned, shocked, outraged, disappointed, angry about the callous neglect of the city's protection in the years and days before the storm and flooding.

No one can say "no one saw this coming." The ability of our government to accept the risk of experiencing this current situation - "hey, let's not plan for a disaster; we'll just hope it doesn't happen" - disgusts me. Here's a striking example of an unbelievably stupid and downright callous acceptance of risk. Any rational government, by the people and for the people, would have done more before and after. They had years to shore up the levees, days to schedule an airlift. We all knew on Friday night that Katrina was gathering strength and heading for the gulf coast.

Leave the behavior of the isolated refugees aside. Since there are tens of thousands, it should be no surprise that it contains a criminal element. There is nothing the people of New Orleans could have possibly done to deserve such betrayal from their state and federal government. How in the world could the government and media so callously disregard one of our nation's greatest cities? The people of New Orleans have contributed immeasurably to this nation's culture, history, and economy. And the Speaker of the House says maybe we consider not rebuilding it? Can we get him to resign tomorrow?

The incompetence of the response to this tragedy is beyond abominable. When the situation is under control, in weeks or months or years, we better see resignations, firings, and people going to jail for this. There is no excuse, not one, none, no excuse at all for this historic, record-shattering, mind-blowing display of incompetence. I don't hear any apologies from the people responsible for this incompetence - just excuses - and this makes their behavior all the more criminal and hateful.

I have a high tolerance for incompetence, as most regular readers of this blog can attest. But this is mind-numbing. No one can say we didn't see this coming. Anyone who does is either an incompetent moron or a bald-faced liar with no shred of decency.

I'm also stunned that the NFL football players and baseball players continue to play games. After 9/11, the league postponed games only after members of the New York "Jets" said "No, we won't do this, it's wrong." The New Orleans Saints will play their home opener in Texas for what good reason? What was the point of making that decision while tens of thousands of people remained trapped in the city? And today they play games and exhibition games for what reason?

The mainstream media needs to cover this story now. And non-stop until the situation is tenable. Let it the coming weeks become one long study of the problem. Let every citizen get a college seminar's worth of education on the subject. If they want something else from TV, let them turn it off and get back to work.

The question is this: How did it happen? Why did it happen? When might it happen again? We need to hear people talking about this. And talking about this.

When we're convinced we won't ever live to see such a disgusting display of governmental incompetence again, then we can talk about football and baseball and other diversions from the daily industrious routine.

Day off

Nothing to see here, move along.

Game 133: Pirates at Brewers

Underway. The Bucs have come back to take the lead, 5-4.

A srike-thrower

Biloxi native Paul Maholm was great last night. Kovacevic reports here.

Saints to play in Texas

Looks like the NFL is determined to avoid the cancellation or postponement of games.

New Orleans

Read this email from a rescue worker.

The bad news with Hurricane Katrina

From this AP story:

Recovery will take so long, [Coordinating Director Bill Lokey] said, that some [FEMA] workers could spend their entire career working on Katrina.

No apology for the hurricane posts: even if Piracy and New Orleans go way way back (think Jean Lafitte), I don't need the excuse. This is an enormous disaster, not just for New Orleans and surrounding areas, but for the whole country. As this unfolds, in agonizing slow motion, we are all losing much, much more than the damn Superdome.

What's especially painful is the lack of preparation. Those people in the Superdome ... how exactly will they be evacuated? Where will they park the C-130s needed to carry them away?

The focus on the looting: could that be more wrong-headed? What good is the property in buildings that are soon to be immersed in contaminated flood waters?

It looks to me like we are losing the city permanently. They'll have to build much taller levees, pump the water out of the city, let it dry out, and then raze everything. How many years will it take to accomplish this? How much money? And who is paying for it?

I wonder: the next time I visit the French Quarter, will it be in some meticulously-recreated Las Vegas attraction?

Game 132: Pirates at Brewers

So what were Maholm's radar gun readings? Brian wants to know.

Red Cross needs money

I love New Orleans, one of the great cities of the USA.

If you have money, send it here.

Life in the Superdome

Story here. I wonder if dome architects won't consider such use for a stadium from now on, and especially when the stadiums are built with tax dollars.

I'd be surprised if any of these people ever set foot in the Superdome after they are allowed to leave next week.

Red Cross time

You can donate to the American Red Cross here.

New Orleans

Here's hoping for a last-minute reprieve. This is terrible.

... I know the Weather Service exaggerates sometimes. They have to get your attention, after all. But this isn't a foot of snow coming toward NO.

If those estimates are realized, we're talking 10-20 times the number of people killed on 9/11, the end of the baseball season, and no NFL games for awhile. No way the Saints will play in the Superdome on 9/18.

This is not to trivialize the likely cost of this storm - who gives a damn about sports when such things happen. But let's put things in perspective. That is serious carnage forecast by NWS. Life, all over the country, will not proceed as usual come Tuesday. The country has never experienced anything like they are forecasting. Camille did not land so near New Orleans in 1969.

Everyone, all over the country, should brace themselves. And get ready to give blood.

Game 131: Reds at Pirates

Luke Hudson and Kip Wells. One-thirty.

Reader review of Oliver Perez's start tonight

Brian writes:

I went to the Indianapolis Indians game tonight against the Columbus Clippers to see Oliver Perez pitch..

Here's his line:

1 2/3 pitched, 7 hits, 6 earned, 2 walks 0 k's 1 wild pich, 1 hit batsmen, 2 homeruns

Needless to say, he had no control and very un-Oliver like velocity. He was topping out at 91-92 and just getting punished.

Even the outs were hard hit.

I left after the third inning, but from what I saw Jose Bautista is quite a player. He made at least 4 plays over there at 3rd tonight and one of them was a diving stab of a line drive that stopped the bleeding for Oliver. He also had a hard hit single and didn't look overmatched at all.

Craig Wilson looked pretty good out there in the field and while he didn't get a hit while I was there, he did draw two walks.

Ronny Paulino looks like a big league catcher back there too. He handled Oliver's wildness pretty well (His control was TERRIBLE) and you can tell he is a leader on that field.

That's all I've got - If you have any questions about anything else I saw - let me know!

All hail Brian. Thanks for the report.

Game 130: Reds at Pirates

Seven o'clock. Weather's not looking too great with the likelihood of rain, but I guess they get the game in. Eric Milton and Josh Fogg.

Alan Robinson on McClendon

Hitting the wire tonight is an AP story by Alan Robinson on McClendon's view of his contract situation.

Good things come to those who wait. I can think of no reason why Littlefield, even if he wants Lloyd back next year, would need to inform him of that before October.

I don't think a manager change would do much to change things, but I admit that I don't know half the story. Continuity of care, as they say in the daycare business, makes a huge difference on young people. Are rookies major-league toddlers? Maybe some of them.

And there must be off-the-field factors that go into a decision like this. Is McClendon very unpopular with the fans? Do the Pirates hire polling firms to find out? Since the team is in the business of selling tickets, I could understand letting a perfectly good manager go just because the fans would be more excited by a change of leadership. An owner or GM who gets into the habit of switching managers often - as PR, scapegoat-sacrificing stunts - pretty much sucks. But there's no point in never making a change, either.

What I learned from Robinson's article is that McClendon appears to genuinely want to come back. I did wonder if he might not be ready for something new. All the losing has to wear on you. Even if he was itching to finish the year and go fishing, I wouldn't expect him to ever say such a thing. But something about these quotes has me thinking that he does want to be back here. That should count for something.

I'm prepared for just about anything, short of Chuck Tanner returning.

Steelers and Redskins

Any thoughts about the game?

Bad Dog

From Indy's newsletter:

CALL-AN-INDIAN -- ZACH DUKE Listen to a grand slam line-up of baseball stories read by Indians players as the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library presents Call-an-Indian. Call (317) 275-4444 to hear former Tribe pitcher Zach Duke read "Bad Dog Dodger."

Someone needs to record this as an mp3 file.

(Thanks to Jason from the comments).

Game 129: Reds at Pirates

DK reports the Pirates promoted Walker and McCutcheon, so good news on the prospect front. Who will the Bucs send to the Arizona Fall League?

Congratulations to Tony LaRussa for winning all those games.

Tonight the Bucs face Aaron Harang, who has quietly put together a solid season for the Reds. We'll be watching Mark Redman to see what he can do against a lineup that's loaded with lefty-killers. Keep an eye on Wily Mo Pena, for example, who hit two home runs the last time the Reds faced a left-handed starter.

Pirattitude

No shit.

Game 128: Cardinals at Pirates

Some guy with a lot of wins against our admirably-overachieving soft-tossing lefty.

Dave Williams for team captain, I say.

All hail Grant Brittain

This is a great story. And one, I'm sure, that other teams will remember at next year's draft.

Duke fell to the 20th round! Wow. Did he increase his final signing bonus with that gambit? It depends on where he would have gone had he been singing "Pro Ball" to all the scouts.

Expectations for 2006

From yesterday's Q & A by Dejan Kovacevic of the PG:

Only the Pirates' management can mess up next season.

That is not to say they will. Only that I see it as being the greatest potential variable.

Leave what is there alone. Get a third baseman through a trade, get a right-handed starter as insurance through free agency, and do the usual tinkering with the bullpen.

Otherwise, work with what is already in place. And by that, I mean ?

Continue to make a priority of the young players in every situation everyday, even if it means temporary setbacks.

Teach, teach , teach. Dismiss the boorish concept that major-leaguers already should know this or that. Work with them, if need be, as if it is their first day in the Gulf Coast League.

Take every measure imaginable to make sure these players get the best instruction, physical conditioning and everything else in the wintertime so there are no ugly surprises in the spring.

Get Bay signed through his arbitration years before he breaks you and, simultaneously, get him feeling rewarded for his massive contributions. Consider Perez, too. He never will be cheaper than with his shopping-cart discount.

And yes, even if there is an outcry back home, make sure there are at least two or three veterans on the team to keep things in line. Some fires already were put out this year. Better to be safe in this regard for next year.

Bottom line: It will not be easy to mess it up.

I agree with everything except the first and last sentence. It will be easy to mess up 2006, and it will be easiest for the players, not the management, to screw it up.

It's fairly obvious how to run the team. And it's fairly obvious that the best qualities management could have are varieties of patience. And say what you want about their taste in players, Littlefield and McClendon have shown a lot more patience with the bottom half of our roster than most fans have.

This is why I think it's a bogus argument, to say that replacing the management, or only replacing the management, would turn the team around: the managers just don't do that much. Cuban or McClatchy, Theo Epstein or Dave Littlefield, Ken Macha or Lloyd McClendon: the difference, I think, is almost always overstated. I don't doubt there's some difference, but I do think that, more often than not, it's greatly exaggerated or misunderstood.

It all comes down to the players. It's dangerous to promote the understanding that they have nothing to do but "be themselves," or "relax and have fun." Because that's not true. If you look at the truly great ballplayers, none of them got to be where they are because they were good at relaxing and having fun. Read everything you can find about Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, or Greg Maddux, and compare that to what you know about Oliver Perez and Kip Wells. In order for the Pirates to improve in 2006, the players have to improve. And that will take study, sacrifice, perseverance, humility, and a lot of hard work.

Ballplayers work like dogs during the season. It's a hellish job, with all the travel, and one with a unique set of difficulties. Nobody understands what the players go through except the players. But no matter how hard they work in the season, they still have to keep at it in the off-season if they want to get better.

Last year, there was a sense during the off-season that everything might fall into place. Then look at our April. I don't know what the players did in the off-season, but it's obvious that whatever they did, they did wrong. April could not have been a bigger disaster.

If the fans expect better next April, I think they have to make that clear to the players. Framing the situation as one that will inevitably improve - as one in which only the management can fail - does not help. David Littlefield will have little influence on young pitchers who debate, some morning in December, whether or not they should study some film or whether or not they should just go party all week. Lloyd McClendon (or whoever the manager will be) will not be there when a player is tempted to overeat, to not do his maintenance workouts, or to make other bad decisions that will affect his preparation for 2006.

Littlefield could spend six million dollars hiring nannies and personal trainers and additional coaches for the players, so that they have all the help they need to make the off-season something that will prepare them for success in 2006. But if the players don't avail themselves of these resources, I don't see how this can be interpretd as a failure of management.

The responsibility for the team's play at the start of 2006 is on the players, not on the managers. There are some fairly obvious things the owner, the GM, the manager, and the various coaches could do to point these young men in the right direction. But that won't be enough.

These young men have unusually good opportunities to have an unusually lucrative and satisfying career. If they are given the impression that any degree of future success is simply inevitable, they are that much more likely to screw up those opportunities. Management may or may not do all the things on that checklist. What really matters is how much the players contribute to their own improvement.

Fight Club

Not sure what to make of this.

Game 127: Cardinals and Pirates

Chris Carpenter and Kip Wells.

Duke lives

He'll rub some dirt on it and not miss more than one start. Ed Eagle reports:

Fortunately for the Bucs, X-rays taken during the game were negative. And although Duke was limping around with his foot in a walking boot after the game, he's not expected to miss more than perhaps one start.

All hail that.

Felt something pop

As Bones says, Oh the humanity!

Game 126: Cardinals at Pirates

Jason Marquis and Zach Duke.

... while you are waiting, read Southpointbucco's post on Wigginton and Noonie at OnlyBucs.

Let Duke pitch

The pitch count that matters is number per inning. And Zach Duke's inning total is one thing, the number of pitches he has thrown this year, another. He has been effective and efficient all year, so the high inning total is somewhat deceptive. I doubt he's thrown that many pitches.

I worry more about a player pitching when he's tired. If he's had four or five days' rest, let him start. If he's ineffective and wears out in any inning, being it inning one or inning eight, then of course you remove him.

If I ran the circus, I'd let him take his regular turn the rest of the season. He needs experience. Let him see the league. Give him tape to study during the winter.

No way would I shut him down just to shut him down. Let him play out the string. Take him out when he labors, and let the inning count go as high as he can drive it. So long as he's not throwing 120 pitches to go five or six innings, I doubt there's anything to worry about. If he's effective and efficient, no one can say he's being poorly managed.

Welcome Ty

Wigginton's back, as John Perrotto and so many others report.

Sounds like the Bucs will start Mackowiak at second and Wigginton/Sanchez at third vs. righties, and Wigginton at third and Sanchez at second vs. lefties. But that's just a WAG based on the known platoon splits. Wigginton ran warm and freezing cold earlier in the year. Neither Wigginton nor Sanchez is much of an option vs. RHP, but Wigginton hit some righties before this April.

Odds are, Mac will play the shuffle boogie with the oppo research notebook and the Magic 8-ball.

Jose Castillo hurt

If he's out for some time, the Bucs could call up Bob Probert Ty Wigginton, or they can call up Jose Baustista.

I vote Probert for the rest of the Cardinals series. They are hanging by a thread, physically; throw the wrecking ball at them. If Ty fails to hit like crazy and spark the team, send him down and give Bautista the experience.

Game 126: Redbirds at Pirates

Mark Mulder and Josh Fogg. Given the Bucs' record against LHP and against the Cardinals, and given Josh Fogg's record against St. Louis, the odds of the Bucs winning this one must be something like one in five. Our hopes may lie with lefty-killer Freddy Sanchez.

I'll be watching Jose Castillo throughout this homestand, to see if he can start hitting at home.

Legal history of piracy

Nyar. And I thought the golden age of Piracy was the 1970s.

Eldred homers off a LHP

That should help balance the strange YTD splits for the right-handed slugger.

Sure, Eude Brito was a minor-league lefty a short while ago, but we'll take it. Any excuse for a toast ... so ... all hail Brad Eldred, may it one of hundreds of black-and-gold home runs off left-handed pitching!

...just thought of something. If Brad let his hair grow real long and did not wash it, then we could call him ... El Dread.

He's probably heard that one before ...

Game 125: Pirates at Phillies

The season is winding down quickly. 1:35pm, Mark Redman and someone named Brito.

This Eude Brito throws left-handed, so we should watch to see if the right-handed Brad Eldred can hit him. When he starts pounding the left-handed pitchers, then we'll start see what he could be at this level.

Light at the end of the tunnel

"I don't know if everybody's seeing the end of the tunnel or what, but it just seems like the whole atmosphere around here has changed a little bit over the last 10 days," veteran reliever Rick White said. "I guess you can attribute that to the fact we're playing playoff-contention teams."

As I get over the disappointment of this season, I'm agreeing more and more with those who think the Pirates could contend one of these next few years.

Paul Meyer, who reported that quote, found an even more optimistic scout:

A scout last night suggested "the Pirates are closer to winning than people think. If [Oliver] Perez comes back like he was last season and the kid [Zach Duke] is for real, they have a chance to have the best pitching staff in the league."

Rotation?

"Staff," the scout said. "They have two left-handers [Mike Gonzalez, John Grabow] in the bullpen who are in the top 10 percent in the major leagues."

Food for thought -- at least.

Link here.

Game 123: Pirates at Phillies

Seven o'clock, Dave Williams and Brett Myers.

Eldred walks!

All hail Brad Eldred for his third big-league walk. Anyone see it and care to share the experience?

... found it on the ESPN pitch-by-pitch: Ball, Strike (foul), Ball, Strike (foul), Ball, Ball, B Eldred walked.

Better than expected! Hoo-raw! Great at-bat, Brad Eldred!

Game 122: Pirates at Phillies

The Phillies were always my favorite opponent for the Pirates back in the 1970s.

Tonight's game begins at seven. Kip Wells faces the Phillies' great rookie pitcher, Robinson Tejeda.

Which Kip will we see tonight? Dr. Kipple, or Mr. Wells?

...way to mess up Tejeda's YTD stats and ROY bid. All the young Bucs!

Global warming bad for Pirates

Look no further for the cause of 13 consecutive losing seasons.

I wonder if the FSM recognizes something like this as "full Pirate regalia."

I sure hope so.

Jose Castillo YTD

Now at .269 / .311 / .420. I was expecting .275 / .320 / .440. He's .258 / .304 / .445 since the ASB.

Brad Eldred 985 August OPS

Not bad.

Rowdy Doumit 16-for-32 in August

Wow. His real name is "Ryan," but everyone knows he'd prefer to be called Rowdy.

"One of the most meteoric starts in big-league history"

Bill Madden For the NY Daily News:

Nobody, not even Willie Randolph - who had vowed his troops would take an aggressive approach to the rookie - could say Duke didn't live up to his advance billing. "A sneaky 91-92 (mph) fastball, great curve and excellent command" was the basic scouting report on the Pirate phenom who, at 6-0 with a 1.87 ERA, is off to one of the most meteoric starts in big-league history.

Maybe it was the repeated media questions about being just 2 1/2 games out of the wild-card race despite a deflating 2-4 West Coast road trip, or simply the flush of two efficient wins over the Pirates to start the home stand, but Randolph struck a defiant tone before the game when asked about the prospect of his team facing Duke for the first time.

"I saw him on TV," the Mets manager said. "He's got a good curve, a sneaky fastball and he pitches inside. I was impressed. But we're going to attack him. You don't give him too much respect. He's a young player and you've got to attack him. You don't let him get comfortable."

It was sound enough advice, just easier said than done.

From the get-go Duke settled into a comfort zone, retiring the first 11 Mets until his right fielder, fellow rookie Nate McLouth, broke up the perfecto by nonchalanting Carlos Beltran's routine fly ball to right and allowing it to glance off his glove for a two-base error. Duke, however, was unruffled and proceeded to strike out Cliff Floyd on a 2-2 overhand curve to end the inning.

"It's hardly easy," Duke insisted. "The main thing was I was able to get my two-seamer down in the zone and got a lot of groundouts and I got Floyd on a curve."

Up to then, he'd used just 50 pitches and his Pirate teammates, specifically Brad Eldred, another rookie, and Jose Castillo, had staked him to a 4-0 lead. While Eldred had struck the most crushing blow against Victor Zambrano, a two-run homer in the fourth on an 0-2 letters-high fastball, Castillo had the dubious distinction of twice getting nailed for the third out trying to stretch a double into a triple, after RBI doubles in the second and fourth. It is undetermined if this is any sort of record.

But enough of Castillo. Last night was all about the artistry of Duke, who was not even on the Pirates' 40-man roster at the start of the season, yet, despite his late call-up, must be considered a leading Rookie of the Year candidate.

I wonder if Duke was unsurprised by McLouth's nonchalance because he'd seen it at Altoona.

And here's a good quote, from Dejan Kovacevic's recap:

"He's got a heck of a curveball," [Cliff Floyd] said of Duke. "I hope he'll be around a long time. The game needs guys like him. He can turn a franchise around."

We could use some of that.

And a few years ago, McClendon was in the habit of telling the media that the Pirates had to become better baserunners. This got him a reputation for being a small-minded small-ball manager. Perhaps that's why he stopped talking about baserunning so often. As DK reports:

"It's not for print," McClendon said when asked about Castillo's base running.

Game 121: Pirates at Mets

Seven o'clock. Victor Zambrano and Zach Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke.

... all hail the Altoona Curve! I like how all the rookies (Duffy, McLouth, Doumit, Eldred) get the start with Duke on the mound.

... all hail Brad Eldred! Now I have to go find another bottle of Marlborough sauvignon blanc ...

Roethlisberger will suck this year

I'm starting to realize that the CW has Ben Roethlisberger coming "down to earth" this year. Chuck Delsman, for example:

If you're looking for an NFL player who will fall back to earth this season, try Ben Roethlisberger. I look for him and the Pittsburgh Steelers to struggle and miss the playoffs.

The more people bet against the Steelers, the better their chances. They play better with a chip on their shoulders. Last year they were universally disrespected after the 6-10 season. It's a good thing to see the Roethlisberger-will-be-a-dud meme going. I'll try to promote it with the misleading title of this post.

I don't know if it was Ward's good faith or the abundant magic on Monday Night, but I'm growing more optimistic about this Steeler season. No way Roethlisberger will be as good as he was last year. Well, he'll be better, but there's no way his stats will reflect that. Teams will attack weaknesses that he had (but no one knew about) in 2004. We can expect that. But down to earth? I doubt the guy will be mundane. My point in stating the expectation that he'll look worse on paper is mainly to say that everything went right in the 15-1 season, and the odds are greatly against a repeat of that run. He'll throw a game-ending interception into the end zone this year. When comparing the 2005 Steelers to the 2004 Steelers, you have to see that we can't expect Roethlisberger to be as near-perfect as he was last year.

Speaking of Steeler QBs, Tommy Maddox has always reminded me of Mike Tomczak - great backup. If Roethlisberger misses a game or mightily struggles somewhere, I don't think that impacts the Steelers that terribly, especially if they have Maddox ready to go in his place.

I still think that 9 wins is the most likely result. Before I said 7 before 10, but I'd reverse that now and say 10 before 7. Maybe 11 before 7. I can't expect 11 or more, not at this point, though I wouldn't rule it out.

And I think they'll take the division. They have to be the favorite. I look for the bad teams to be better, so I expect the North will be bunched up. The Bengals and the Browns will pose more difficult tests this year.

Depth does look like the possible problem with this team, but it's not a problem until it becomes a problem. I've liked Max Starks from day one. And once again I think Verron Haynes could break out with health and opportunity. So we'll see. The rest of the preseason will be a meaningless fog. So long as everyone stays healthy, we won't learn much more about this team until the games begin next month.

Josh Fogg

Dejan Kovacevic reports Josh Fogg may not see too many starts. As with D. Ward and Tike Redman, Josh Fogg got the full set of opportunities to establish himself as a regular. He'll probably leave Pittsburgh, be out a job, and, starting in 2007, catch on with another team. And then go on to contribute 2000 innings over the next dozen years. And maybe win a World Series or two.

Fogg's probably done here, but his career is not over. If wanted to stick around as a Pirate, he picked a bad year to have a bad year. He cleared waivers so the Bucs could even trade him if a contender wanted him right now.

Twitchy Eldred

So a number of us have noticed that Eldred twitches and fidgets at the plate these days, and the few of us who saw him at Altoona, don't remember seeing this.

What do we make of that?

Eldred's power potential makes him a must-play, must-keep character for us. Unless Littlefield can replace him with a sure thing - which is doubtful considering the salaries power hitters command - we'll sink or swim with Big Country. I may not like to watch nervous Eldred at the plate, but there's no way I'd rather be watching Darlye Ward, who has worn out his welcome with his still-inconsistent contribution. I had hoped 2005 would be the year he'd be a steady if unspectacular contributor. I also came into the year viewing 2005 as his last chance.

Eldred has struggled each time he has moved up a level. And after the struggles, he calmed down and became one of the best hitters in his league.

The best-case scenario for Eldred's future, I think, is something like Adam Dunn or Russ Branyan. Despite his huge size, Dunn has always drawn walks. His strike zone is big but not so big that every pitch is a strike. Eldred has not shown that patience. Branyan has always showed a dramatic platoon split. A left-handed hitter, Branyan just can't hit lefties. Eldred has not hit lefties, either. Eldred has been above-average (already) against right-handed pitching. Since Eldred is a right-handed hitter, there's no reason to think he won't adjust to big-league left-handed pitching. That may be the point where he emerges as the kind of hitter he can be at this level.

If he turns into a .265 / .325 / 575 hitter, who makes something near the minimum, then he's a real asset. Eventually, hitters with poor K-to-BB ratios and Ginormous Power will draw more walks. Pitchers begin to fear them. Branyan developed into a .325 OBP guy and this year, he's sporting an OBP in the .380s.

Good things come to those who wait. The Pirates have to wait for Eldred. The fans might as well. It would be easier to watch all the games if Eldred's batting posture was a bit more reassuring, but I think we have to wait on this guy.

Game 120: Pirates at Mets

Down 3-1 in the fifth.

Abraham Nunez

A good test for the nature vs. nuture argument w/ player development might be our beloved pinch-hitter, Abraham Nunez. Why has he blossomed in St. Louis? Did Tony La Russa teach him to cut down on his strikeouts? Or his improvement more likely the result of him getting older and more experienced?

Did he work harder in the offseason because he'd be starting a new job?

Was he used incorrectly by McClendon? Most of us would yes; we hated to see him pinch-hit so much. Is this why he struck out so much as a Pirate?

Has his effectiveness increased because he's surrounded by greatness? I call this the Charles Johnson effect. He had one good year (2000), in large part, I always thought, because he hit ninth in a stacked Chicago lineup. Does Noonie succeed in St. Louis because his opponents overlook him among so many intimidating players? Did opponents ever regard him as a threat when a Pirate?

I don't know why Noonie has played better than Scott Rolen this year, but I doubt the reason is Tony La Russa's ability to better handle him.

I'd guess it's far more likely that Noonie answered the wake-up call of unemployment with redoubled efforts to improve himself as a player. He was once a prospect (with St. Louis, I think), so it's not like he's ever been without talent.

Should McClendon be fired because there is some Noonie on the current roster?

I just don't accept the idea that the big-league manager has much to do with the success or failure of his individual players.

Javier Guzman

The Pirates have a waterbug prospect at Altoona. Paul Meyer provides this biography.

Also catch Josh Bonifay on Jose Castillo's defense. Yeah, Charlie is right. We can expect Castillo to post better defensive numbers (see Tuesday's Stats Geek) as he matures.

Q & A and McClendon

A lot of interesting stuff, as usual, in the Q & A.

My take on any manager or general manager is this. If he's a rookie, he's going to screw up. If he pays attention, studies the game, and has real problem-solving ability, he's going to get better. If he does not pay attention, does not study the game, and creates more problems then he solves, then he needs to be fired.

I don't have any kind of access or inside information, but I've seen little evidence that McClendon is more a problem-maker than problem-solver. The fact that a lot of raw players leave Pittsburgh and continue to improve is no strike against McClendon; that's like blaming the 6th-grade teacher when the 10th-grade girls grow boobs or get pregnant. I expect every player the Pirates cast off after a few years of service to catch on somewhere else and keep getting better. They have talent and sometimes it takes a lack of security (e.g., getting dumped by the Pirates) to motivate young players to get the most out of it. If players are malingering in Pittsburgh, trying to stay healthy and extend their career into the free agency paydays, then it doesn't matter who is the manager in Pittsburgh. If the additional motivation of finding a new job doesn't help, simple aging and maturing will. Of course young players leave Pittsburgh and keep getting better.

In addition, I'm not impressed with arguments that proceed from the assumption that the manager is the person who is primarily responsible for a player's development. The primary responsibility for a player's development falls to the player. Any good coach or teacher knows this. All the good players know this.

So all things being equal, I would assume that McClendon will be a better manager in 2006 than any rookie manager. I also assume that Littlefield will be a better general manager in 2006 than any rookie general manager. But I'm not terribly qualified to make that decision, so I can only offer that opinion with a shrug.

Perrotto: Farm system loaded

Uplifting stuff.

Game 119: Pirates at Mets

Seven o'clock. Mark Redman and Kristin Bentley. Bentley's name triggers some kind of memory. I'm not sure what. Anyway, he's pitching a hell of a lot better this year than, say, Kip Wells.

J.R. House

Needs time and some WD-40. Story there from the Charleston Daily Mail.

Wilson and Castillo

Good Stats Geek this morning.

Is Castillo's defense so Bobby Hillesque? I expected a little more from him with the bat. There's still time.

Why does Castillo hit so poorly at home?

And why does Rob Mackowiak hit so poorly as an outfielder?

Next time, maybe the Stats Geek can interpret some of the crazy splits which characterize our inconsistent players.

Good faith

All hail Hines Ward.

All hail back-to-back road series wins

And all hail Jason Bay. How long had it been since we won a series in Houston?

A gambler friend of mine offers this rule: if a good team loses to a bad team, bet on the bad team to win again the next day. Everyone thinks no way they lose to them again, but usually, they do just that.

I was skeptical and wanted to see the math when he told me this. With the Astros streaking and due to face first Chicago and second Milwaukee, I admit that's what I thought when we snuck out of dodge with the series win.

For some reason I doubt the Astros would give a playoff start to Wandy Rodriguez.

This preseason game is getting a little silly. Somewhere, fantasy players are snagging Nate Washington off waivers and high-fiving themselves mentally.

50-50 on McClendon for 2006

John Perrotto gives that number.

Eagles at Steelers

Game on in half an hour. I remember the last time the Eagles came to Pittsburgh for a preseason game ... maybe it was the last time ... years ago at Three Rivers. The Steelers stunk it up and lost, but I had a blast anyway.

The Steelers' easy 2005 schedule

Wow, I'd like to be as optimistic as Al & Vivek at Football Outsiders. I blame the Bucs ....

Football tonight

The Steelers have NOT established themselves as one of the best teams in the NFL. One good season doesn't do this for me. They went 15-1 in 2004, but they were a 6-10 team in 2003. The 2005 season could be like the 2004 season for the Chiefs. The Chiefs went 8-8 in 2002, 13-3 in 2003, and 7-9 in 2004.

Football teams that take their greatness for granted will disappoint their fans. Are the Steelers up to this? I don't know. But ask yourself this: would we have had this kind of contract-holdout distraction one year ago?

I'm not convinced the 2003 record has much bearing on the Steelers' 2005 season, but I'm also not convinced the 2004 season does much to meaningfully predict the 2005 season. I guess any prediction should begin at zero, that is, at 8-8. What are the Steelers showing us right now to suggest they are better than an 8-8 team? Not much, but the same could be said for almost every team in the league. The only exceptions would be the ones that have posted winning season after winning season after winning season.

Another thing. Most of you have been over this before, so forgive me if this is tired stuff by now. Ben Roethlisberger is good, but he's not going to complete 66% of his passes over the course of his career. Dan Marino completed 59%. The all-time completion PCT record-holders are Steve Young (64%), Joe Montana (63%), and Troy Aikman (61%). I'm not predicting disaster for Big Ben, but teams will make adjustments - remember the New England playoff game - and it's not at all likely that he will be as effective in 2005. Even if he is really, really good - say a Hall-of-Fame QB - he's not going to live up to the 2005 standard.

For all we know, he'll be kicking a laundry cart after a 3-5 start. He has to play pretty well for what, another dozen seasons, before anyone should be serious with with Marino / Young / Montana stuff.

And as Scoop always notes, it's been part of Cowher's legacy to delight when expectations are low and disappoint when expectations are high. I'll be keeping my expectations pretty low.

I would not be shocked to see them go 7-9 in 2005. Eight or nine wins may be more likely, but I'd go with seven before I'd go with ten.

So I say, brace yourself, Steeler fans.

What are your thoughts?

Pirates to cut back Duke's workload

Joe Rutter reports.

Perrotto on Parity

John Perrotto:

A total of 18 of the 30 major-league clubs were within 6½ games of a playoff spot when the weekend began.

So, while it's understandable that Pirates' fans think the economic deck is stacked against their favorite team, the truth is there is as much parity in the majors now as there has ever been. While the Pirates have not figured out how to take advantage, increased revenue sharing and a luxury tax have helped competitive balance.

Even the Los Angeles Dodgers still have hopes of making the playoffs.

So what happened? What does it mean to not "take advantage" of the greater parity?

Sally O'Leary

Rick Shrum PG interview with Pirates historian and retired PR whiz Sally O'Leary.

What did your work entail during the early years with the team?

O'Leary: We did community days, fan mail. There weren't many promotions until later. One of my biggest jobs was to update statistics every day. I had to go to every home game and keep statistics and a box score. I had to listen to road games because I still had to keep score. We also kept a ledger book of every game, which was handwritten and had details of everything: weather, the umpires, outstanding plays. We also had a page on every player. When we were at Forbes, we didn't have things like a computer or electric typewriter. I didn't even have a calculator. I had a little book that listed percentages that helped me with batting averages.

All hail Sally. Link here.

All hail runs

Beautiful win. Way to stick it to the NL Wild-Card leader.

And three toasts tonight for Dave Williams. All hail that guy for the CG gem.

Duke in the NYT

Murray Chass:

The Pirates plucked Duke, a left-hander from Texas, in the 2001 draft. But they selected him in the 20th round, meaning he was available to every other team in the first 19 rounds. How does a 20th-round pick win his first five decisions in the majors after dazzling five minor leagues in the previous three and a half seasons?

The answer is Duke wasn't really a 20th-rounder. He wasn't projected as a first-round pick, but he would most likely have gone within the first five rounds.

"He would have gone higher in the draft," Dave Littlefield, the Pirates' general manager said, "but there was word that he wanted a lot more dollars than he was worth. Since people deemed him unsignable, he was headed to college."

The Pirates, moving belatedly but boldly, intercepted Duke before he matriculated. It was one of the best moves they had made since drafting Roberto Clemente in 1954. "Our scout" -- Grant Brittain -- "did a nice job with him and was able to get him signed," Littlefield said.

Link here.

Game 118: Pirates at Astros

Two o'clock. Another win at Enron field would make my day. Dave Williams and Ezequiel Astacio.

Carrying water

Get well Chris Duffy, and don't let Brad Eldred punch you in the kidneys again.

Game 117: Pirates at Astros

Seven o'clock, Kip Wells and Roger Clemens.

Ollie

Ed Eagle, among others, reports he's back on the mound. What are your expectations for him the rest of this year? And next?

Game 116: Pirates at Astros

Eight pm. Zach Duke and Roy Oswalt. I had a bad dream last night starring Lance Berkman. If I'm Zach, I just bean him and move on. But Zach's smarter than that. It should be fun viewing either way.

I'm also curious to see if McClendon will send out the whole gang of youth for more of that Altoona Curve 2004 good feeling.

New shirts

And other goodies in the Honest Wagner store, many with our world-famous drunkards logo.

Baseball vs. Football

Baseball is a daily soap opera, with new episodes 300 days a year. Football is more of a series of traumatic events. Over the years, I've learned not to pay too much attention to the NFL during the offseason.

Fantasy sports play a role in the way I follow the two sports. Fantasy baseball is something like chess. That is, it's a game in which the luck element can be significantly reduced. Strategy and diligence can carry the day. You need the right rules, of course. It seems to me that keeper leagues should be deep (many teams, large retention lists). Non-keeper leagues should be shallow (with many starting players on waivers).

I played fantasy football for a few years. Then I realized there was too much luck to make it much of a game of strategy. And I see no way to minimize the role of luck. There are too few games and too many traumatic, season-ending injuries. I no longer play it. I prefer to play out the baseball season and keep my football gaming to pick 'em contests.

Fantasy football taught me some things about the difference between the MLB and NFL seasons. First, fantasy football plays like a 16-game fantasy baseball season. The basic unit of play, in both football and baseball, is the game. I once thought of the NFL and MLB seasons as things of similar size. But this isn't the case. There's much more waiting in the NFL season. It takes many months, but not too much happens in the NFL -- compared to baseball. That doesn't mean it's not just as great, mind you; what baseball does with diligence, football does with intensity.

When it comes to being a fan who crafts his expectations for the upcoming season, I've discovered that it's important to remember that every football season suffers, statistically, from the small-sample size effect we'd find in any 16-game baseball season. (Football games are longer than baseball games, so perhaps it's more like a 30-game season. Either way, our ability to predict or anticipate the distribution of statistics is pretty challenged.) There's a lot of randomness in the way the money statistics are distributed in any given year.

Add in the prevalance of traumatic injury, and the football season gives us many more one-year wonders than the baseball season. Not only are we ill-equipped, relative to baseball, to predict the performance or effectiveness of individual players, we are also ill-equipped to evaluate their contribution to their team.

To reduce this to a cliche: football is more the team sport. It takes many years to discern the truly great individuals from the temporarily great individuals.

I wanted to say all that before I begin with my comments on the 2005 Steelers season, which I'll roll out early next week.

Ellis on HBO tonight

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star:

Dock Ellis will be interviewed at 9 tonight by Bob Costas on HBO's "Costas Now." Featured will be rare footage of Ellis' 1970 no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the San Diego Padres.

In a recent biography of Dock Ellis, we learned that he was using this footage in his drug rehab work. He's apparently quite high, esp. in the postgame interview.

Game 115: Pirates at Rockies

Day game at Coors Field. Josh Fogg and Jeff Francis are the Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots.

...welcome Nate McLouth.

The rotation

Dejan Kovacevic reports Fogg will get another turn.

If the Bucs increase their payroll by ten million for 2006, I suggest they spend all of the money on pitching coaches. I doubt the Pirates will be eager to pay Fogg what he'd win in arbitration, even if he turns his season around. And Fogg will be just fine. Some team like the Reds will sign him at a generous rate in February.

If we lose Fogg and add Snell, we are left with Oliver Perez, Kip Wells, Ian Snell, and probably Ryan Vogelsong as the pool competing for spots after Zach Duke, Dave Williams, and probably Mark Redman. That's four pitchers with great stuff and lousy guile. And we'll need at least two of those guys to pitch well and separate the crafty lefties. I can't say I expect any of those four to come through for us in 2006. Since Ollie only had one great year (2004) and Kip had two great years (2002 and 2003), I wonder if it isn't fair to start with the premise that Ollie is half the pitcher that Kip is. I didn't think Ollie would be such a disappointment in 2005, and I didn't think Kip would post back-to-back poor years. Right now, I don't see much reason for optimism about the 2006 rotation.

Game 114: Pirates at Rockies

9:05 PM EST. Mark Redman goes fists-of-fury on Aaron Cook. Look for the lowly Helton-less Rockies, conditioned losers, to lay down and whine, conceding another huge Pirates' victory.

Kevin McClatchy

I don't have a problem with this guy. He's talking sense as far as I'm concerned.

When it comes to assigning blame for 13 consecutive losing seasons, I blame the players. It's their fault. With notable exceptions, they have underperformed year after year. But they have been young. Young enough to let the opportunities of a lifetime slip from their grasp, fall to the ground, and break into a dozen worthless pieces.

Some of the players get it. Others don't. I'd say, most of them don't. A player inclined to blame anyone but himself has greater temptation to do this if he plays for the Pirates. It is hard to distinguish yourself at this level of play, and most players fail. And it's easier to fail when you have so many ready excuses.

The ownership and front office have not done everything right. They definitely share in the blame. Maybe 15% of all this failure can be attributed to their incompetence and inexperience. The rest of the blame goes on the shoulders of the players who came here and failed.

One other thing. My hunch: there will be no major-league baseball in 2007.

Promising Jon Nunnally

The part of this week's Q & A that jumps out at me is the news that the Pirates promised AAA playing time to a journeyman, and that this promise was cited as a reason for sending Sadler to AA instead of AAA. Can this be true? Both halves of this tidbit are striking.

Game 113: Pirates at Rockies

9:05 PM EST at Coors. Dave Williams throws his junk while Jose Acevedo serves up taters in the battle of the basements. Jason Bay is 5-for-10 with a jack vs. Jose.

To date, Jason Bay has a .296/.388/.552 line. All hail our best player, Jason Bay!

Rockies swept Monday's doubleheader so are due for a huge loss tonight.

Bullington

New DK notebook reports:

"The Pirates are considering a September callup for starter Bryan Bullington, the first overall pick in the 2002 amateur draft. In his past seven starts for Class AAA Indianapolis, he is 4-1 with a 1.93 earned run average, 41 strikeouts and nine walks in 42 innings."

BB seems to have traded in the clown car for a ticket to the show. All hail the new improved Bryan Bullington!

Raffy on Roids

Who do you respect most to least: Mark McGwire for juicing but refusing to admit it, Rafael Palmeiro for lying his ass off, or Jose Canseco for telling all and making a buck out of the whole tragedy?

Monday off

Bucs have Monday off to lick their wounds and prepare for the Rockies in Coors on Tuesday. Duffy will rehydrate his tight hammy and Kip will rest his cracked fingernail.

Gonzo's two-inning simulated game went well today. He's set to start his rehab assignment on Tuesday.

Sunday's DK notebook features Tike coming to terms with being a bench player. "I can start in the majors. I proved that last year. Anybody can see that," said Tike. In other news:

-Gerut's knee is still tender, but he's expected to start soon.

-Restovich feels the love: "I feel like they want me to be part of the team. I really do, and that's nice."

-In AA Altoona, elbow tendonitis is shutting down RHP relief prospect Josh Sharpless for the year.

Game 112: Dodgers at Pirates

1:35 PM EST. Jeff Weaver-Kip Wells donnybrook. Sensational win last night. Great to see all the young guys come together and spill some whoop-ass on the Dodgers. All hail Chris Duffy for hitting .388 and Zach Duke for tying Whitney Glazer's 1921 record of starting his career with the Bucs 5-0.

Friday's DK notebook reports that the Pirates are leaning towards bringing back Mesa to close in 2006. His 2006 team option is 4 million, but apparently that can be negotiated down. I hope way way down. Longtime readers of HW know that I'm a big fan of the Bucs' fifth all-time saves leader, but, WOW - no way in hell can we afford to pay him anywhere near 4 million next year, even if the payroll is raised to 50 million.

Game 111: Dodgers at Pirates

7:05 PM EST. Zach Duke (4-0, 0.92 ERA) tries to stop the bleeding again, this time against Odalis Perez, and likely in front of another sell-out crowd on Skyblast night 2. All hail Brad Eldred for his first jack last night! Anyone fortunate enough to be attending the festivities this evening please throw a bone to us less fortunate fans with comments, news, impressions, or opinions on Duke, Eldred, other Pirates, or the pyrotechnical display.

Only 9 days left until the Steelers' preseason opener vs. the Eagles. Big Ben looked sharp today.

Game 110: Dodgers at Pirates

7:05 PM EST. Derek Lowe vs. Josh Fogg. The Bucs host the first of three against the lowly 48-60 Dodgers. Fogg will try to build a case for his 2.15 million dollar salary and a 2006 rotation spot.

All hail NL Rookie-of-the-Month for July, Zach Duke!

"I'm not going to get complacent," said Duke. "I still have a lot of work to do."

Game 109: Padres at Pirates

(The two-day-old reverse jinx is 2-0. I'll try for 3, hoping for another Bucs' win).

12:35 EST. Brian Lawrence drop-kicks Mark Redman. Look for our low-rent last-place split-squad to shuffle slowly into the slaughterhouse and, of course, lose big. The "hidden languorish" in Eldred's 4-for-4 guarantees an 0-for-5 with 3 Ks tonight. The lad certainly won't go yard.

Game 108: Padres at Pirates.

(My prediction for yesterday's game couldn't have been much more horribly wrong. I'll try again, lowering the bar).

7:05 PM EST. Newly acquired Chan Ho Park drop-kicks Dave Williams. Look for our ragtag motley crew of fourth outfielders, utility infielders, and mop-up men to get another mudhole stomped in their ass. To mix things up, Mac will leave some poor lemming in to give up a sixth consecutive hit or walk. Oh wait, he did that yesterday. BTW, RV was ready with the mop, right? WTF leave White in after giving up 6 hits/walks (5 consecutive) to see a 7th (6th consecutive)? Anyway, expect more of the same learned helplessness tonight as our overmatched half-roster has its gaping weaknesses systematically exposed and exploited.

Game 107: Padres at Pirates

7:05 PM EST. Pirates return home for the big Jake Peavy vs. Kip Wells smackdown. Although tied with the D-backs for first in the NL West, the Padres are on the ropes, having lost 9 of their last 10 . Look for another dominant outing by Kip and a huge Bucs victory featuring multiple Eldred/Doumit jacks. Gerut will likely hit fifth and play RF. Jason Bay says his knee is fine, expect him to bat third and hit for the cycle.

Meanwhile, over in Steelers training camp, Kendall Simmons "smoked his competition" and Casey Hampton "looked svelte" in the "run-test".

Game 106: Pirates at Braves

1:05 PM EST. Zach Duke tries to stop the bleeding against Tim Hudson in another chance to avoid the four game sweep. Bucs have lost 5 straight, are 22.5 games back, and now at 44-61 have the worst record in the NL besides the Rockies. I'm guessing Gerut will hit second as the Lawton-less Bucs try to find other ways to score a few runs. At least if Gerut totally tanks or hurts himself again, we won't owe him much in arbitration.

Mercifully, Steelers training camp began today. #1 pick Heath Miller signed (as did #2 pick Bryant McFadden and #3 pick Trai Essex) but Hines Ward didn't report to camp and is apparently going to hold out until he's offered a contract extension.

Matt Lawton for Jody Gerut

Welcome aboard, Jody. Gerut is a 27 year old left-handed RF who can't hit lefties. Against righties, he's decent. In 2003, he tore the rotator cuff in his left shoulder. In Sept. 2004, he tore the ACL in his right knee. So he's either undervalued or injury-prone. Overall, it sounds like he'll fit right in. He's only making 356K this year, so this should free up some money for either next year's payroll or Nutting's coffers.

75 minutes past the deadline and this is the only Pirates trade that has been announced.

Game 105: Pirates at Braves

1:05 PM EST. Fogg vs. Smoltz. Last-place Bucs try to salvage some dignity and avoid four game sweep. With our play of late, the odds of this happening are not favorable.

Trade deadline today at 4 PM EST. What goes down will shape the future of the franchise.